Happy Feet

Rated: PG 

Released: 2006 

When I have actually watched this movie several times in the past and I have watched this on occasion with my niece and nephew who are 7 and 5. When it first came out I thought it was so cute with a nice story line it had some funny characters. 

Happy Feet is a story about a penguin named Mumble who wasn't good at singing but is a great tap dancer. Since tap dancing wasn't the norm in their community of penguins and Mumble's father says "it just ain't penguin" making him feel shame and embarrassed because he didn't have a great singing voice like the rest. Since Mumble was just too different with his strange "hippity-hopppity" ways the leader of their community casts him out. Mumble leaves his home and meets un-emperor-like penguins the Adelie Amigos. The Adelies instantly embrace his cool dance moves and invite him to party. At the end of the movie the moral of the story is to stay true to yourself and you can make a difference in the world. I think that many of these children when they are watching this movie they get the message that its okay being different and unique. Also to stay true to yourself no matter what anyone says. 

Now during the film I noticed that the Adelie Amigos had Spanish accents and spoke some words in Spanish. Ramon who was one of the main characters and was part of the Adelie Amigos was played by Robin Williams who is not Latino. After doing some research people believed that they had incorporated racist stereotypes of Latinos into the characters. "The characters that lived in the what I can only describe as the "ghetto" part of the Arctic. There was bad accents throwing around words like 'mami' and 'homies'. " (punkrockparents.net) This comment was in a personal blog post and many of the comments from other people agreed that the Adelie Amigos were portrayed negatively. According to the Telegraph it made a list of 7 surprisingly racist children's films in an article on October 1, 2014. I agree with what many of these parents have commented and I think its a film that many of us take notice because it is a comedy and we don't pay attention to the characters way of talking or how they are being portrayed as.  A review by Manohla Dargis in the New York times she makes a very good point on how "it’s discomfiting that so many children’s films depend on voices that are funny only because they exploit ethnic and racial stereotypes." We as parents just laugh it off because it's funny but we don't realize that these are the films that our children are watching and it quickly turns into mockery that children will emulate was has been portrayed. 

Refrences

"7 Surprisingly Racist Children's Films." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 1 Oct. 2014. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.

Dargis, Manohla. "Bring in Da Hoofers on Ice." The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Nov. 2006. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.

L, Elisa. "Punk Rock Parents: Happy Feet? More like Racist Feet." Punk Rock Parents: Happy Feet? More like Racist Feet. N.p., 7 Mar. 2007. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.

A Day's Work by Eve Bunting

A Day's Work by Even Bunting

Illustrated by Ronald Himler 

Originally published in 1994

A Day's Work is about a young Mexican-American boy named Francisco and his Abuelo (grandfather) who just arrived from Mexico and are trying to find work. Because Abuelo doesn't speak any English Francisco was the one trying to find work for his grandfather. Eager to find work Francisco assured Ben, who was looking for a gardener, that his grandfather is a skilled gardener. When in fact Abuelo was a carpenter but Francisco reassured that it was an easy job. Ben leaves both Abuelo and Francisco to do the gardening job but when returning back at the end of the day Ben was shocked to discover that they had stripped the plants and left the weeds. Abuelo was angered learning that Francisco had lied to Ben so he refused the payment until the job is done correctly. Ben was flattered by his integrity so he reassured Abuelo with more than a day's work. Francisco then gains a new respect for his Abuelo and makes some important discoveries of his own.  

A Day's Work didn't represent the Mexican culture in any way the author did add some Spanish words through out the book but there were very few. The author gave abuelo a stereotypical job that has become a stereotype to the Mexican culture. The Mexican culture has a stereotype that all men work as either a landscaper, gardener, or carpenter. The author shows how all the men are in a parking lot waiting for someone to pick them up so that they could work. This stereotype gives a representation that since abuelo can't speak English that this is the only capable job he could do. 

Ben who was the gardener was the character that had the most power. In the beginning when Ben came to the parking lot he was looking for one man to come do his job. He had the power to choose which man he wanted for his job. After he had chosen Abuelo and Francisco he left them to do their job and would later come back to pick them up and pay them.  Ben also had the power to fire them after they had done the job wrong but decided to give them a second chance and gave them another day of work. 

This book was written by Eve Bunting who is Northern-Ireland born she moved to California in 1958. Bunting has wrote more than 250 books ranging from children's picture books to young adult novels. According to Scholastic, "she never shies away from addressing difficult issues, including racial prejudice, death, troubled families, and war; at the same time, her work is infused with hope and beauty". Ronald Himler who is the illustrator was born in Cleveland, Ohio he started to illustrate children's books in 1972. Himler has illustrated more than 150 children's books and is still doing it today. (Art Of Originals) Both Bunting and Himler are not Mexican-American or have any sort of relation to the characters in this book. Although Bunting is known for addressing racial prejudice in some of her books. But neither is Bunting or Himler's background relevant to the culture portrayed. 

According to the "10 Quick Ways to Analyze Children's Books for Racism and Sexism" and "Evaluating Children's Literature" articles the story itself is well written and its easy to read. Although I believe this story doesn't follow "standards of success are consistent across cultures". Many other people who reviewed the book agree as well that the book portrayed Mexican immigrants as needing to find a job on a daily basis. Even in the illustrations are very expressive and the writing portrays Mexican Americans as people who wait for work and are taken to work, use children to speak English for them in adult matters, and eat chorizo and tortillas. I believe this book has a great overall message on honesty and importance of work ethic but I would never have this book in my own classroom. Being Mexican-American myself I felt very offended by this book.This doesn't show anything about our culture and what it's like being Mexican. It rather shows a stereotype that we as Mexicans are labeled as in the American culture. The lifestyles being represented in this book about our culture is not accurate and I would never want any Mexican-American or any other child to read this book and believe that this is how the Mexican culture is portrayed. 

Refrences:

"10 Quick Ways to Analyze Children's Books for Sexism and Racism". Adapted from the original brochure which was published by the Council on Interracial Books for Children by the California State Department of Education. Sacramento, Bill Honig, 1998.

Bliss, Kellie. "Evaluating Children's Literature". (2015). Online Article. 

Bunting Eve. "A Day's Work". (1994) New York : Clarion Books. 

Liza. (2014 June 10). Book Review: A Day's Work. Retrieved March 14 2015.

Scholastic. 2015. "Eve Bunting Biography". http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/eve-bunting

Art Originals. 2015. "Ron Himler". http://artoriginals.ronhimler.com/bio.html

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